1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to an indoor heat pump for use in a confined space.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Objectives of the Invention
With the advent of apartment living, manufacturers of heating and cooling appliances were faced with a need to conserve space used by their appliances. While compact heat pumps and other combined technologies helped alleviate some of the space concerns, there is still a strong felt need to economize on the space used by heating and cooling devices. Numerous types have been built which attempt to make such appliances smaller, or otherwise reduce the space required. These include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,598,558; 5,140,830; 5,533,346 and 5,271,242. While these devices are improvements over the art of the time, there are still pressures to reduce the size of the appliances and to conserve valuable indoor space.
Likewise, there is a need to provide a heat pump which is easily adapted to condition air that is returned to the heat pump by a duct or a free return vent. Such a device would allow installers to use identical heat pumps in a number of different installation configurations, and thus, reduce the inventory of the installer or supplier.
There is an additional need for a self-contained heat pump which is readily installed without extensive additional plumbing to accommodate condensate drainage. Conventional heat pumps are trapped exteriorly of the heat pump housing and thus require additional installation and plumbing work.
With the above needs in mind, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a heat pump which has a very small footprint and thus takes up little floor space.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a heat pump which is only about 180 cm tall.
It is still a further objective of the present invention to provide a heat pump which has a drain trap fully contained within its housing.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide a heat pump which has a diagonally positioned coil in fluid communication with two different air intake openings, namely a duct return, and a free return.
It is another objective to provide a heat pump with vertically overlapping interior chambers to effectively shorten the height of the heat pump.
It is still another objective to provide a heat pump with a drain pan that substantially covers the footprint of the heat pump.
It is yet another objective to provide a somewhat s-shaped drain pan in order to accommodate overlapping chambers.
These and further objectives and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the following detailed description.